emerald village

We found the staff very helpful, and for twenty or so dollars we entertained ourselves for a couple of hours searching for jewels. I was surprised at how many, and all the different varieties we found. It was a great time, and fun family activity.

I'd recently been panning for gold in Alaska so I wanted to find gems here in the southeast. Each of us bought a medium bucket and sifted thru it for gems. Each of us found quite a few, and some really great ones. I have a Rock Tumbler from when my grandson was little so I'll use that to polish them. Asked the person how to know which ones can be done together and she gave me the mohn scale website. Very helpful to us.

Maybe this is the place to go if you are trying to spend some time with kids. I just did not see much and get that much out of it. Felt like someone was just trying to make a buck off me. I did not do the mining just the tour of the rooms so maybe I got what I paid for (free). Also there is no real food to eat so you might want to pack a picnic if you plan to make a day of it.

Interesting local facts about mining and a very pretty waterfall. A easy walk down to the fall and nice outing. Make sure you get some fish food! They have some Big trout in the water and they are so much fun to feed!

The kids (even a teenager) had a good time looking for gems. This is a great rainy-day activity as the flue area is under cover.

Went with our 7 year old boy and 4 year old girl and had a blast. Mining museum is right next door to the old mine and is free admission. If you want to self tour the mine it's $7 adult and less for kids..can't remember, but its worth it. All the other exhibits are free and can do these and still have fun. BUT..the real reason for going is the gem mining. Its not in the actual mine, but right in front using one of two flues. You pick how much you want to 'mine' from buckets you purchase. From $10 for 3pds up to 55 gal for $1000. We got the one for $100 and took us about 2.5 hours. Found rubies, amethysts, tourmaline, garnets, emeralds, crystals, pyrite, tigers eye, and others. But the fun was mining for them. There are no restaurants nearby so bring food if you want. We will go back when we can.

Plan on spending about 3-4 hours here! There is museum, caves, tour, sluicing and hold panning. The staff were all friendly. Just a tip if you spend $25 for the native bucket, your chances are VERY slim on finding anything. The person identifying stones told us he has only seen one person in all his time here find one tiny emerald in those buckets. If you want the possibility of finding anything at all get the enriched. The kids walked away with great stones from that bucket. Our day here was well worth the drive off our route!we all enjoyed it.

Had a great time here! The caves are amazing! My Daughter and I wish we had more time here. This is a must stop if you like to dig as well!!!!!

There is a nice museum on multiple levels(must be able to climb steps) exhibiting railroad, music, farming, etc. memorabilia. Pan for gold or gemstones and have the gemstones cut and mailed to you. They only do cabochon cut of the stones, so I only had a couple specimens cut. I prefer my sapphires, rubies, and emeralds cut differently. An employee identifies the stone that you find and you decide if you want them cut for $30+ depending on the cut and size of the stone.You can find emeralds, opals, rubies, sapphires, rose quartz, etc. when you buy a bucket for $10+ to sort thru.

This gem mine is well organized with friendly staff and a nice gift shop. We came away with some beautiful gems and ordered jewelry made with one of the finer pieces. Children will love going through their bucket and taking it to the expert in the shop, who was very knowledgeable and helpful. The displays in the museum could use some refining, but overall it was fun for the whole family.

Emerald Village is the site of two mines, one of which was the source of Feldspar for Bon Ami cleaning powder. The village includes several "museum" exhibits that you can tour for free. There are numerous artifacts relating to mining and gem stones as well as other items of interest. One area was all antique musical instruments and related items. Unfortunately, the much of the museum is not being preserved in an archival or museum manner and thus the much of the collection is in poor condition and continuing to deteriorate. For a fee you can also obtain a bucket of rocks that have had rough gem and mineral stones mixed in and you can sift through to see what you discover. Our 12 and 14 year old spent about 30 minutes searching the $10 bucket and discovered a large number of actual gem and mineral specimens. The staff was very helpful in explaining what they had found and identifying the individual stones. For the money, this was a great time.

This is not your average kitschy, roadside gem shack. What better place for gem panning than at an actual mine? Prices are comparable to other gem panning places in the area, except here you'll find actual gems in your bucket (all sizes). We found a good amount of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds! The location is beautiful and you'll definitely want to take some time to walk the grounds before leaving.

Gem mining was a hit with the kids and the exhibits were interesting. The tour was the biggest waste of money. $7 for the chance to go underground in a mine. In my mind this would mean underground, as in a cavern. In the tour advertiser's mind that means going under a large overhanging rock ceiling, on ground level. Multiply 7 x 2 adults and $5 x 3 kids and you leave the tour feeling bitter...Could have bought another bucket of rocks to run through the sluice box.

We had fun at the Emerald Village. We found very pretty gems during our gem mining and toured the mine museum which was very interesting. The staff was also very friendly which made the experience even better.

Weather is great. Many REAL things to do. Easy living is in place and the natives are friendly and hospitable plus educational!!